


The Perks of Being an Asshole

by Notebook



Category: Cow Chop (YouTube RPF), The Creatures (Youtube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff and Angst, M/M, NovaHD - Freeform, probably smut idk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-25
Updated: 2017-05-17
Packaged: 2018-08-24 14:22:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 9,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8375545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Notebook/pseuds/Notebook
Summary: Aleks despises high school, so when his roommate Eddie convinces him to finish his last year, why would he agree?Especially when there's this one stubborn bad boy intent on tormenting him with the insufferable nickname of 'Gorgeous'. Ugh.





	1. Chapter 1

High-school is a bitch.

It didn’t matter if you were the stereotypical nerd, or jock, or if you spent your lunch break cutting school to smoke in the alleyway behind the petrol station.

High-school is always a bitch.

But sometimes, it was worse for others.

Aleksandr Marchant spoke from experience. He’d changed schools before, due to all of the bullshit and harassment, and had eventually given up, refusing to ever go back the hellhole that was high-school. He’d moved in with his older friend, Eddie, around the time he’d turned sixteen, and taken a part-time job at a shitty café to help pay the bills.

He was now seventeen, and only just managing to scrape by.

Eddie never liked seeing his friend coming home miserable every day, but he wasn’t exactly pleased when Aleks dropped out. He became less pleased when he’d paid for Aleks’s tattoo as a birthday gift, and then found out Aleks was eating less so he could pay him back.

“You know,” he’d piped up over dinner one day, “If you want a better job, with better pay, you could always at least finish high-school.”

“Fuck that.”

“I’m just saying! You could go back and finish. You don’t even have to go to college, if you don’t want to. High-school graduates can get better opportunities than drop outs.”

“I’ll take more shifts at Chat’s-”

“You’re working six days a week already, Aleks!” Eddie slammed his fork down on the table, accidentally spattering mashed-potato across the wood, and across Aleks himself.

The two of them stared at the mess for a moment, and Eddie pressed his lips into a tight line, trying to suppress his laughter.

Aleks’s shoulders shook with restraining his own laughter, but he managed one sentence.

“You- You got potato in my eye.”

And that was the end of Eddie’s restraint.

Eddie choked, and then doubled over in laughter, peals of giggles bubbling from his lips as he gripped his sides. Aleks chimed in with his own laugh, wiping the food off of his face as he did so, until eventually the two could breathe again, and Aleks was potato-free. The two ate in silence for another few minutes, before Eddie lowers his fork to the table, and finds the courage time speak up again.

“Will you at least listen to what I have to say now?”

“That depends. Are you going to shower me with fucking potato again?”

Eddie snorts, but he continues. “Not if you listen.”

“Then I’m listening.”

Eddies leans back in his chair, and rubs at his eyes a moment before speaking.

“I know you’re worried about not being able to pay your share of the bills. I know you’ve eaten considerably less since your birthday- Don’t try to deny it!” Eddie snaps, as Aleks opens his mouth to argue, “I know you’ve been trying to pay me back for it, which you don’t have to! But that’s not the only thing. Aleks, you’re working six days a week already, you can’t take more shifts.”

Aleks stands up quickly, and slams his hands on to the table, causing the cutlery to jump and clatter.

“I can take more shifts! I can take the Sunday shift, I’d get pay time and a half, it won’t be that bad, and-”

“Aleks, you fucking hate your job.”

Aleks falls silent, because he can’t argue with that. Working in a coffee shop to get by isn’t exactly the most flattering job, or exactly have the best pay. The only thing that keeps him sane is probably the other workers, and the occasional well-tipping customer. The boss is kind enough, and he shares a few shifts with a guy named Kevin, whose sense of humour keeps him from repeatedly slamming his head into the countertop. There’s a regular who goes by Dan, and he’s always sure to tip a fair few dollars.

“I… It’s not that bad-”

“And this is coming from the guy who came home no less than two days ago, looked me dead in the eyes and said “Eddie, I’m considering prostitution over this shit”?”

Aleks genuinely had been considering prostitution, he wasn’t joking. He wasn’t about to say that though.

“Okay, so it’s pretty shitty, but Eddie, c’mon, you know high-school fucking ruined me.”

“I’m not asking you to go back to any of your old schools Aleks. It’ll be a fresh start, a new school. If you finish high-school, you’ll have better opportunities than working at Chat’s.”

Aleks runs his hands over his face, sighs melodramatically, and gathers the plates and cutlery. He wanders off into the kitchen, and Eddie waits patiently as he listens to the tap running. He knows Aleks isn’t avoiding the subject. It’s just his way of thinking. He leaves the topic alone for a few minutes, and then comes back to it. He isn’t one to just avoid something, he needs closure. Sure enough, he returns, and sinks slowly back into his seat.

“Alright, I’ll go back-”

“Fuck yeah!”

Eddie cuts him off, knocking over his chair as he stands up, and thrusts a fist into the air. Aleks snorts, and offers a weak smile.

“I wasn’t done. I’ll go back, but if I drop out again, it’s for good, and you never, ever, bring up this topic to me ever again. The word high-school will be taboo in this household. Do we have a deal?”

“We have a deal. You can go enrol tomorrow.”

Aleks sighs, envisioning the overwhelming stress already.

“Fuck.”

—-

“Just dress how you usually do.”

“You mean what caused me to get picked on in the first place?”

“Aleks, do me a favour? Quit being a fucking whiner.”

“You wound me.”

Unfortunately for Aleks, he’d been enrolled with no problems whatsoever; aside from the eyebrow raise he’d received for the tattoos on his arm, and calf. He’d made a decision to keep his sleeves down at that point, and stick to wearing jeans, if he wanted to make an impression that he was a half decent human.

And unfortunately for Eddie, he’d been put in charge of, “Dude, tell me what you think I should wear, I don’t know what the fuck to wear” when Aleks’s first day of school rolled around.

“So were you planning on driving to school, or taking the bus?”

“Eh, probably won’t stick to strictly either,” Aleks murmurs and smooths out his sweater, “But I guess I’ll drive. I’ve sorted out my shifts with Jordan, but I’ve got work today. Why?”

“Driving sounds like a good choice, seeing as you’ve already missed the bus, and if you speed, you’ll get to school with about five minutes to spare before class starts.”

“Fuck!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aleks is almost late for his first class, and somehow ends up seated next to the school's resident bad boy: James fucking Wilson.

Eddie was almost spot on with his timing.

Aleks speeds into the carpark at 8:57, and illegally parks across two parking spots. He clambers out of the car, swears loudly when he bumps his head on the doorframe, slams the car door, and rushes into the school.

It’s about 8:59 when he bumps into somebody with a leather jacket, harshly shouldering them in his haste. He pauses for a moment, holds up his hands in an apology, and utters out a quick, “Fucking hell, sorry!”

He hurries down the hallway, and doesn’t see the guy turn around to watch him go, doesn’t see him blink in confusion, and doesn’t seem him smirk as he lowers his gaze because hey, look at those hips.

The bell for class goes just as he makes it to the doorway. There’s practically nobody in the classroom yet, save for a girl in the back corner who is chewing gum loudly, a boy in a window seat who draws idly, and the teacher himself.

“Aleksandr Marchant?” The teacher asks, drawing out Aleks’s name slowly and painfully.

“That’s me.”

“I’m Mr Adams. You’re in the back row, ninth seat. That will be your seat in my class for the remainder of the year, unless you find a problem with the people surrounding you, in which you will have to come see me. Understood?”

“Yes sir.”

“Take a seat.”

Aleks does as he’s told, and sits. He has the other back corner seat, and he can’t help but think how grateful he is for this spot.

He’ll have trouble seeing the board, but hey, you’re less likely to be pelted with paper notes at the back, and people prefer to hiss harsh words when they’re behind you. They’re not going to turn around to be a dick.

The only person Aleks is going to have to worry about is whoever has the seat next to him.

Students filter in, and a few give an occasional glance towards Aleks, but nobody says anything. Nobody sits in the seat next to him either. Aleks isn’t complaining, he likes being on his own. Maybe they’re sick, or nobody’s been assigned that seat, or some shit.

The teacher does roll call, but doesn’t call. Instead he just glances around the room, and checks for the student himself.

Fifteen minutes into the lesson, Aleks has zoned out, wondering at what point in his life he’ll need Trigonometry, because he really can’t think of one. That thought is both comforting, because he hates the subject with a passion, and also a pain, because he learnt all of this shit for nothing.

Shame, because he’s pretty good at it too.

The door clicks, and swings open with a squeak. Leather-jacket-guy from earlier, steps through, and grins at the teacher with a paper cup in his hand, and Aleks has to resist the urge to laugh, because this guy literally just showed up fifteen minutes late to class with coffee.

It’s not Starbucks, but whatever, close enough.

“James Wilson,” Mr Adams sighs, “Late to my lesson again. Tell me, where do you see yourself in five years if you continue to skip class, or show up late?”

“Hopefully not here.”

The guy, James, smirks and elicits a few chuckles from around the class. Aleks just rolls his eyes. He’s one of those guys.

“Take your seat, James.”

James’s eyes wander the class as he approaches his seat, and when his gaze stops at Aleks, so does he. He stares for a moment or two, and his smirk seems to double in size when he winks. Aleks dislikes him already. He seems like a player, a complete asshole. Somebody who’d lead someone on until he got a quick fuck, and then he’d ditch them an hour later, satisfied with himself. Aleks immediately decides to stay away from him.

Unfortunately, James is in the seat next to him. So he can’t exactly stay away as much as he’d like. Aleks settles for avoiding his gaze, and death stares the page in front of him.

Two minutes later, there’s a crumpled ball of paper that lands in front of Aleks’s face, on top of his book.

He sighs, and unfolds it.

There’s a message in blue ballpoint at the top of the page, scrawled messily, obviously done in haste without care.

“Lighten up gorgeous, that page has done nothing to you. What’s your name?”

He glances across at James, and raises an eyebrow. James smiles, and taps his teeth with a pen, shrugging lightly. Aleks scoffs, and uncaps his pen, scrawling a reply. He keeps his eyes on James when he unfurls the paper, and supresses a giggle when he watches James eyes widen, and his eyebrows shoot up in shock when he reads Aleks’s message.

“FUCK OFF” scribbled in red ink, all capitals.

Aleks assumes that James has never been rejected, and it feels pretty good to be the one to do it. But James laughs, a noise that makes Aleks’s stomach flip with something akin to annoyance, and the teacher turns and raises an eyebrow at him, but doesn’t say a word.

The paper lands in front of Aleks again moments later. Another message has been scrawled below his, and Aleks groans, letting his head slam into the math book on his desk.

He tries to ignore James’s laughter from next to him, and he crumples the note up in his fist, not even bothering to attempt to reject James again. His response implies that he’s not going to give up that easily.

“I’ll try again later. You seem unusual, I like that.”

It’s going to be a really long fucking year.

Aleks wonders if Eddie would ever consider letting him drop out on the very first day.

No, Eddie had named a condition when they were enrolling. Aleks had to stay in school for at least two months. He didn’t want Aleks agreeing to trial it, and then walking into the school just to walk out minutes late. There was no way he was getting out of this situation that easily.

Lightly putting it, Aleksandr was fucked.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> aleks works at a little cafe, his car is shit, and kevin is a terrible friend

The day wears on very slowly. Aleks shares almost all of his classes with James, and with each one, he has to pretend that he doesn’t see James side-eyeing him every twenty seconds. Even at breaks, James has got his whole fucking body turned towards Aleks, not being the slightest bit discreet about it. One of the guys he sits with, some guy named Seamus or something, follows James’s gaze at one point and just shakes his head solemnly.

Aleks wonders if that’s the guy’s way of showing feeling sorry for him, or feeling complete shame at having a creep for a friend.

It’s probably both, honestly.

James tries to approach him halfway through lunch, but before he can even sit down across from him, Aleks is up from his seat and high-tailing it the fuck out of there. He spends the rest of lunch lying down in the backseat of his car, with the door open and his legs dangling out into the sun. It’s a lot more relaxing than being stared at all the time, and a lot more visually appealing than the bleak grey walls of the cafeteria, with the odd stain or two.

Aleks does his best to avoid James Wilson, it’s practically exhausting, and it never works anyway. The guy is always there, it’s like he’s Houdini, or some shit.

But even though the school day is slow, it does end eventually.

The final bell rings, and Aleks is already in the hallway, and he’s never been so excited to go to work in his life. He pauses for a moment, and pats at his pockets.

“Fuck,” he hisses to himself, “Forgot my phone.”

He backtracks up the hall, half-turned to the side to check the locker numbers as he goes past, scanning for his own. He reads them aloud as he goes, brow furrowed in concentration.

“Three-one-three, three-one-five… Oh! Three-one-sev…” He trails off at the sight in front of him, “Fuck!”

Three-one-seven was his locker number. But apparently three-one-nine was James’s locker number.

James has taken only a few steps away from his locker, when he stops to look up at the sound of Aleks’s voice. This puts him at locker three-one-five. 

Alek’s has to go past him to get to his locker.

Okay, maybe he doesn’t need his phone? He can grab it some other time, if he turns fast enough now, there’s less chance of James coming after him, and-

“Hey!”

Fuck.

James raises his hand in greeting, a grin immediately forming on his face when he sees Aleks. Aleks himself however, is not as pleased. He sighs rather melodramatically, before manoeuvring around James, and fiddling with the combination lock, until it clicks off, and the locker swings open.

James is still next to him though, and he rests his forearm against the lockers, his fingers hooked just inside Aleks’s own locker. He leans back, a complete picture of relaxation, and in Aleks’s opinion, ‘douchebaggery’.

“So, I never even got your name? All I got was a very rude remark-”

“Fuck off.”

“That was it!” James’s grin is wolfish, and Aleks wants to do nothing more than punch him in the jaw.

Aleks searches underneath a few papers in his locker, before lifting one that reveals his phone. He pockets it, and glances from James’s fingers edged into his locker space, to the smug look on his face. He raises an eyebrow as he places a hand on the outside of the locker door.

“I suggest you move.”

“And I suggest you give me your name?”

Aleks shrugs.

His decision, so it’s his fault if this hurts.

He slams the locker door as hard as he can, and he’s fairly sure he heard one of James’s fingers crunch from the impact of the metal.

“What the fuck!”

James jerks his hand away with a yelp, eyes wide as he stares at Aleks’s blank expression. Aleks bites a lip to hold back a smile, and shrugs again.

“I told you to move.”

He shuts the door, clicks the lock back on, and leaves James alone in the hallway, cradling his injured hand.

—-

Aleks’s car is old, and shitty. It doesn’t have an AUX port, and the CD player seems to destroy every disc he puts in there, turning it into a scratched mess. The radio works fine, but he’s never bothered use it.

The CD skips yet another song as he has this thought, and he sighs. He could always get it fixed, but the car is probably going to die at some point anyway. He figures he’ll just save up enough for a newer version, but he’s been saying that for ages. The shit-box has grown on him, honestly. He parks across the road from Chat’s Café, and doesn’t bother to check both ways before crossing the road. He honestly crosses his fingers as he dashes across the road, that he’ll get hit. If he ends up in hospital, maybe he can convince Eddie to let him drop out again.

But the roads are dead, and Aleks makes it across the road in one piece.

Kevin greets him on the way in, says something sarcastic that Aleks doesn’t quite make out, but he flips him a middle finger anyway.

“So,” Kevin asks as Aleks changes into his work shirt, “How was the first day at school? Feel like a big boy yet?”

“I honestly contemplated throwing myself out of a window.”

“I’ve found that those are completely normal thoughts to have in high-school.”

Kevin would know. He’s a couple years younger than Aleks, but he’s stuck in a private school. He showed up at work once still in his uniform and Aleks had had to duck into the kitchen so he didn’t laugh in his face. Kevin had still heard him though, and in revenge, had dropped multiple ice-cubes down the back of Aleks’s jeans.

“At least you don’t have a mildly attractive stalker.”

Kevin raises an eyebrow, but the bell above the door jingles, and Aleks sighs.

“I’ll tell you later,” He promises before he turns to the customer, “Hi, can I help you?”

—-

The end of the shift is nearing, and the café is practically empty, of both staff and customers. After three o’clock, hot food stops being made, and it’s strictly drinks and desserts, so the kitchen-staff have all taken off. Hardly any customers come in around this time, so Aleks is perched on the countertop with a can of Pepsi in one hand, while he gestures wildly with the other as he talks.

“-and he’s just so fucking- Argh!”

He jerks his hands up, and Pepsi spills over the can, running down his arm. He wipes it as Kevin hops down from next to him.

“Yeah, you’re definitely in a dilemma, but he can’t be that bad, right? I mean, he just wanted your name, you don’t know anything about the guy.”

Aleks opens his mouth to argue, just as the bell above the door jingles. A young man walks in with a leather jacket, and two fingers wrapped in medical tape, phone to his ear. Aleks swears under his breath.

“Yeah, I’m there now Seamus. No, I’m fine. I’m not gonna-” His gaze settles on Aleks and a smile plasters itself onto his face, “I’ll have to call you back.”

He hangs up, pockets his phone, and opens his mouth to say something. Aleks cuts him off as he climbs off of the countertop.

“Fuck no.”

He stalks into the kitchen, and remains there until the bell jingles again, signifying James’s exit.

Kevin has his arms folded, and a small grin on his face, the one that screams ‘you’re going to hate me for what I’ve just done’.

“So I spoke to James while I did his order. He asked for your name.”

Aleks scoffs, and throws his empty Pepsi can into the bin.

“Did you give him a talk about not harassing employees, or something? Do anything to help my situation?”

“Actually I just gave him your name. He thought it was cool.”

Aleks groans and buries his face in his hands.

“Kevin, you are the worst fucking friend a guy could have.”

“Thank you, I take pride in my work.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> aleks may be breaking both hearts and fingers, but eddie won't let him give up that easy

“So how was your first day back?”

“Shit.”

“Wonderful.” Eddie smirks as he flicks through the channels, searching for anything worth watching, anything that isn’t some shitty romance special.

“Eddie, I’m not joking. You’ve got to let me drop out early; high-school is fucking hell.”

He sighs, turns off the TV, and shuffles off of the couch to sit next to Aleks, who is seated on the floor.

“Alright, I’ll bite, what happened?”

Aleks sighs, and covers his face with hands, shaking his head.

“I don’t want to talk about it, it’s fucking stupid.”

“C’mon, it’ll be like a sleepover when we were twelve or some shit. You can talk to me about it over a movie, and heavily buttered popcorn.”

Aleks uncovers his face for a moment in consideration, before covering it again moments later, muffling his voice effectively.

“You make the popcorn, and you have a deal.”

So minutes later, the two of them sit across from each other on the carpet with a bowl of popcorn, and a shared bottle of Coke between them, and some movie playing in the background that neither of them are really paying attention to, because Aleks is in the middle of informing Eddie about how shitty high-school is, and how shitty James Wilson is. Eddie winces when Aleks tells him he slammed James’s fingers in his locker.

“Holy shit, was that really necessary?”

“I fuckin’ told him to move!”

“Well, yeah, but what if he just didn’t realize that his fingers were in your locker?”

Aleks shrugs, and throws a piece of popcorn up into the air, attempting to catch it in his mouth. It hits the corner of his lip, and bounces onto the carpet instead.

“That’s not my problem,” He murmurs as he tosses another piece into the air, “He shouldn’t have irritated me when I told him to kindly leave me alone.”

“You told him to fuck off!”

“Is that not me being kind?”

Eddie sighs and shakes his head, snagging a handful from the popcorn bowl as he speaks again.

“So did you make any friends other than him?”

“He is not my friend.”

“Well not after you broke his fucking finger, that’s for sure! Aleks, it’s your first day, you can’t just break peoples fingers! In fact, you probably shouldn’t at all!”

Aleks shrugs his shoulders, and Eddie sighs. He can tell he’s getting nowhere with this, and he knows Aleks hates high-school with a passion after what happened, but it’s not going to be any easier on him if he’s slamming people’s hands into his locker. He does agree that James does sound a bit like an asshole, but he’s not about to admit that.

“So, do you have friends or no friends?” He asks again, speaking through a mouthful of popcorn.

“Not really. I didn’t exactly talk to anyone at all today, except for you, Kevin, and Asshole.”

“Who’s Ass- Oh, James? You’ve given him a nickname, that’s adorable.”

“Say that again,” Aleks holds up the Coke bottle menacingly, “And I will shove this bottle so far up your ass, you’ll hiccup bubbles.”

“That was creative.”

“Eh, I think I stole it from a show.”

“Plagiarism is illegal, Aleksandr!”

He slaps a hand on Aleks’s arm, and laughs when he jumps at the sting. The bottle falls over, spraying the carpet with Coke, and Eddie winces at that though, because wow, that’s going to be a bitch of a stain to get out. Aleks grimaces, and pokes the raised mark on his arm.

“It’s welting, look at that shit! This is abuse.”

“Quit being a baby. I’m leaving this conversation now. By the way, you’re getting that stain out of the carpet!”

“What? It was your fault, you’re fucking helping me!”

“Piss off.”

“You fucking shoved me back into high-school, you will help me with this stain, or so help me god-”

“Do what you will!” His voice trails off as he rounds the corner, leaving Aleks to deal with the syrupy stain on the carpet.

“We don’t even own any fucking cleaning supplies in this household!”

“Not my problem!”

—-

Tuesday morning rolls around, and Eddie wakes Aleks up at seven o’clock sharp, by throwing himself on top of the sleeping figure.

“Get up, sunshine! You have to get ready for school!”

“What are you my mother?” Aleks mumbles, as he wraps himself up tighter in the blankets, “I’m not fucking going to school.”

But he is, and Eddie makes this very clear when he pours the remainder of a nearby glass of water over the top of Aleks’s head. It soaks the bed sheets, and Aleks jumps out with a yelp and a shout.

“Okay, I’m going!”

He takes a half-hour shower; because he figures if he stays in here long enough, he’ll miss the bus, and he can just tell Eddie he doesn’t want to waste fuel on driving. His plan falls apart, however, because Eddie catches on to what he’s doing. He’s spent thirty-four minutes in the shower, when the hot water system is switched off, and he’s forced into the only corner that the freezing cold spray doesn’t reach, shouting for mercy. He scowls at Eddie when he exits the bathroom, a towel around his hips, and one hand up to flip him off. Eddie merely rolls his eyes, and throws him a bundle of his clothes.

“Get dressed. I’m not letting you think you can skip school, just because one guy has some weird infatuation with you. Besides,” he shrugs, “You broke the guy’s fingers. Aleks, I’m fairly sure that might give him a strong hint.”

It may have given him a hint, but Aleks doubted that James would be able to take the fucking thing.

Either way, at eight o’clock, Eddie forced him out the door, and towards the bus stop.

“Am I going to stand here and make sure you don’t skip school, too?” He questions with a fold of his arms, and Aleks sighs.

He shakes his head, and Eddie nods, before taking off back down the path.

The bus shows up five minutes later, and it’s fairly crowded. People talk loud, shouting to each other from across the seats, and Aleks wonders how the guy in the back can just sleep through all of this.

Strong willpower, he guesses.

Aleks wishes that he had that strong of willpower.

Maybe then he wouldn’t be stuck in this shithole.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> so maybe the school's resident asshole isn't that much of an asshole? whatever. not like aleks cares.

Aleks realizes his mistake when he steps off of the bus, and almost fucking freezes to death.

No jacket. He must’ve forgotten, and left it in the kitchen this morning, in its place on the counter. He’s surprised he didn’t notice the cold waiting for the bus earlier, but his mind must’ve been elsewhere. He’s got a long-sleeved shirt on underneath his vest, but the material is thin, and does nothing to protect him from low temperatures.

It’s not snowing yet, but its fucking freezing.

He restrains a violent shiver, grits his teeth to stop them from chattering, and trudges on. It’ll be warmer inside. He thinks, anyway.

A wave of warmth hits him when he walks through the doors, and he shudders at the temperature change, grateful to whoever invented heaters. The air is still fairly cool, but it’s nothing compared to what it was outside. He heads to his locker quickly, hoping that James will stick to his late streak and he won’t have to make awkward eye contact, or hide around the corner until he leaves.

His prayers are answered, and James is nowhere in sight. He glances upwards, trying to remember his combination, and then twists the dial. The locker clicks, and creaks when Aleks opens it. He winces when he sees the slight dent in the frame of his locker, and okay, maybe he shouldn’t have slammed the asshole’s hand in his locker.

Simply because, the frame is all bent, and now the door sticks slightly. Not because Aleks would feel sorry for James Wilson. Of course not, no way.

“Hey.”

Aleks practically leaps out of his skin, jumping about a foot high when an unfamiliar voice breaks his concentration.

He breathes deeply, and glances to his side. There’s a blonde male there, a blank expression, and hands in his pockets. He raises an eyebrow in question, and Aleks places a name to his face.

“You scared the shit out of me dude,” He murmurs as he places a hand over his heart, “You’re Seamus, right?”

“That would be me. And you’re Aleksandr, right?”

Aleks nods in response, and returns to rifling through his locker, letting the guy speak.

“You’re the one who broke James’s finger?”

Aleks freezes, unsure how to react, and swallows. Great, now he’s gonna get the shit beat out of him on his second day.

Seamus merely snorts, and the corners of his lips quirk upwards.

“He probably deserved it.”

Aleks raises an eyebrow in confusion.

“Uh… I guess?”

“James can be demanding. There’s no denying that. Look, I came to ask you a favour though.”

Ask him a favour? Aleks barely knows this guy, but whatever. Aleks shrugs, and gestures for Seamus to continue.

“James is failing two of his classes, chemistry and maths. I heard you got full marks in the in-class test for both of the subjects, yesterday,” Oh fuck, Aleks can tell where this is going, “And I know it’s only your second day, but I figured, maybe you could tutor-”

“No.”

Aleks can’t stop the word before it flies out of his mouth, and he immediately clamps his mouth shut. This guy is James’s friend; he probably shouldn’t talk shit around him.

Seamus sighs, and seems to dig his hands further into his pockets.

“We’ll pay you.”

Aleks hand freezes on his locker.

“What?”

“James really doesn’t want to repeat a year. We can pay you to tutor him. He told me you work at Chat’s, and I heard that café workers get shitty pay.”

Aleks hates James with a passion. But if he gets money, he can pay back Sly. He can help more with the bills, and the groceries.

“You can always just fuck him off later, if it gets too much.”

Aleks hesitates. His mind says no, stay away from James; you’ve seen what people like him do.

“I’ll think about it,” says his mouth, “Give me a day.”

—-

Aleks has no idea how he got detention.

‘Talking-back, swearing and attitude’ is what he was told, but for fucks sake, he was just correcting the teacher. He’d been doing the equation wrong, and Aleks just had to say something.

What was he supposed to do, let the class learn an incorrect method? Maybe that old asshole should learn his job.

But as for the swearing, he didn’t really have an excuse for that. The teacher had just tried to shut him up, and so Aleks had sunk into his chair with a huff, and a ‘for fucks sake’.

He sighs, and stares at the clock above the whiteboard. This detention is twenty minutes long.

He’s only been in here for two.

Slamming his head into the desk seems like a good option right now.

The door clicks open, and lo-and-fucking-behold, in struts James Wilson.

“Late,” tuts the teacher, “You are late again, Mr Wilson.”

James merely shrugs.

“I have other things to do, you know sir? Your detention isn’t exactly top priority.”

The teacher grits his teeth, and James smirks.

“Sit next to Aleksandr.”

Aleks thinks maybe he’ll slam James’s head into the desk instead of his own.

James raises an eyebrow, but does as his told, and pulls out the seat to the left of Aleks. He rests his right hand on the desk, and Aleks winces when he notices the medical tape still strapping his fingers together.

He actually did break his fingers. Holy fucking shit.

The teacher sighs, and stands up.

“I have an important errand to run. I will be back at the end of your detention, and I expect there to be no talking while I am gone.”

The door clicks shut, and James immediately speaks.

“What a cunt.”

Aleks almost chokes at the sudden vulgarness, and James continues.

“He’s going to smoke out the front of the school gates. The guy smokes like a pack a day, gorgeous, I’m not joking.”

Aleks reels in the urge to smack his hand onto James’s injured fingers at the sound of the stupid nickname he’s received. He figures if he has to tutor him, he should make an attempt to be nice.

“I used to smoke,” is the first thing out of his mouth and the second is, “And I’m sorry for breaking your fingers.”

James raises his eyebrows for a split second.

“You used to smoke?” He asks, ignoring Aleks’s apology.

Aleks doesn’t push it, he just nods.

“School got to me. I’d be cutting class to smoke in the nearby alleyway. But it got expensive, and it was a shitty habit anyway.”

James snorts in surprise, and leans back in his chair.

“I never would’ve guessed. You seem like such a teachers pet.”

Aleks fucking despises that term. But he lets it slide. He needs the money.

So he makes small talk with James, and fifteen minutes passes surprisingly quickly.

“Wanna ditch?” James offers, “We’ve only got five minutes left of this anyway, and he’ll be too lazy to reissue a detention.”

Aleks shrugs, he doesn’t care. He follows James out into the empty hallway, and shivers when the cold air hits him.

“You’re cold?” James asks.

“I’m fucking freezing.”

He doesn’t have time to argue when James pulls off his jacket, and drapes it over his shoulders. He’s only wearing a t-shirt, and Aleks notices the colour tattoo on his arm, but he’ll ask him about that later.

“I’m not gonna die. You’re only in a t-shirt; you’ll be colder than I was before-”

“You’re fine, gorgeous,” He winks, “Don’t worry about it.”

And James disappears, like the fucking Houdini he is, and Aleks still fucking hates him, and his god damn cocky attitude.

But he needs money. Just think of the money.

And his jacket’s pretty warm, anyway. Aleks definitely isn’t thinking about how good it smells, either.

Of course he isn’t.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aleks is the angriest of nerds.

Aleks actually forgets that he’s got James’s jacket on, and by forgetting that, he forgets to give it back.

It’s only when he’s on the school bus that he realizes he’s significantly warmer than before, and he glances down at himself, remembering James’s jacket.

“Fuck.”

He’s tempted to tear the thing off, and push it out the bus window, watch it slap some student in the face. But he figures it’s probably expensive, and he wouldn’t have the money to pay James back for it when it got wrecked and ‘lost’.

Besides, it’s still pretty cold out. Freezing to death isn’t exactly at the top of Aleks’s list of things to do, so he’s somewhat grateful for it when he gets off the bus, and has to take the short walk back home.

“I’m home!” He shouts to an empty room, as he swings the door open.

He frowns, pushes up a sleeve to check his watch, and sighs. It’s only 3:15, Eddie’s still at work.

Eddie works at the grocery store a few blocks away, and similar to Aleks’s café dilemma, is paid quite poorly. His shift ends around four, and Aleks figures he has two options. He can go visit Eddie at work, and annoy the hell out of him, or he can go start the homework that he got today.

As much as he’d love to annoy Eddie, he doesn’t feel like walking, and the homework would have to be done at some point in time. So he makes his way upstairs, and dumps his bag on the floor. It hits the ground with a thud, and he drops to a crouch, rifling through the pockets until he finds the crumpled question sheet.

Aleks scans his bedroom for a pen, and in the end, searches his bag for a pen too. He figures should probably clean his room, because it has an abundance of clothes scattered across the floor, and a pile of plates are building up on his desk, but fuck that. Too much effort involved.

He switches on the radio, messes with the stations until he finds one that he likes, and gets stuck into the questions.

He flies through the English questions, and is done in less than half an hour. English had surprisingly never been a particularly difficult subject for Aleks. Surprisingly, because his first language wasn’t English, it was Russian, which he still tended to slip back into when he was highly stressed. Although, mostly he just liked to speak it to confuse Eddie.

He passes the time by practicing the bass, trying to remember the chords that have slipped his mind, and swears loudly when Eddie scares the shit out of him by coming in and slamming the door against the wall.

“Fucking hell dude,” He swears as he places the bass back on its stand, “You scared the absolute _shit_ out of me. When’d you get back?”

“I’ve been home for like ten minutes. Surprised you haven’t set the fireplace up yet, it’s fucking cold in here!”

Eddie rubs at his arms to emphasise his point, and Aleks raises an eyebrow, because yeah, it’s a little chilly, but it’s not that-

“Whose jacket are you wearing?”

Oh. That’s why he didn’t notice.

He glances down at the floor, and scratches at the back of his neck, mumbling.

“It’s James’s.”

Eddie is silent for a moment, eyebrows creased together as he thinks, trying to remember who James is. His eyebrows shoot up when it clicks in.

“The guy whose fingers you broke?”

“Yeah, you can stop referring to him like that.”

“I thought you hated his guts with a passion?”

Aleks sighs, and sits on the edge of his bed as he removes the jacket.

“I do. But his friend wants me to tutor him, and I’d get paid for it, so I have to attempt to be civil. Also, he pretty much fucking forced this jacket onto me, okay? Don’t give me that fucking look.”

‘That fucking look’, is a knowing, sly smirk that has crossed Eddie’s face, coupled with raised eyebrows. In fact, it just so happens to be the same look Eddie gave him when they were younger, and he caught Aleks checking out this one girl.

“You think he’s hot.”

“I do not!” Aleks protests, probably far too quickly to _not_ imply anything.

Eddie laughs, and takes off out of the room, shouting over his shoulder as he does so.

“I’m cooking dinner, come join me when you’re not in denial!”

Aleks really hates his friends sometimes.

—-

The bus ride is strange, the next morning.

Aleks has his music on relatively loud, so he can’t hear anything that people are saying, but he can see them looking at him. Sometimes it’s just a subtle glance to the side, sometimes it’s a not-so-subtle full body turn. He’s fairly sure they’re whispering, and it unnerves him in the slightest.

He chalks it up to just being paranoid, due to the shitty rumours that had started at his previous schools.

He simply goes on with listening to his music until the bus ride ends.

When the first class starts, however, he’s positive that people are staring.

They turn around to look at him, frown, and lean across to the others, whispering something to them. The other will frown, or their eyes will widen, and they stare at Aleks for a moment, before leaning to someone else.

He chooses to ignore it, to just get on with the day.

But it’s harder to ignore, when during lunchbreak he overhears what they’re saying about him.

It’s only a few words that he picks up, but it’s enough. The words ‘gay’ and ‘stalker’ are thrown around, and he hears James’s name mingle in as well.

One guy actually shoulders Aleks on the way past, and hisses ‘fucking creep’ loud enough for him to hear.

Aleks scowls and his hands ball into fists.

So James doesn’t get what he wants, and he starts a fucking rumour?

Aleks will _not_ have a repeat of his other schools, he will _not._

So when he gets into the cafeteria, he marches up to James’s table.

James holds his gaze with a smile, until Aleks shoves the jacket into his chest with such a force, James folds a little. Seamus watches the ordeal with wide eyes, and Aleks points, voice speaking volumes of anger.

“Why’d you start a fucking rumour?” He hisses, “Because I didn’t give you what you wanted? What was it, huh?”

James looks confused, and Aleks _almost_ believes his confusion.

“I didn’t? I don’t know what you’re talking about gorgeous, sorry.”

“Don’t dick with me James, who the fuck else would do it!”

Aleks shouts, and he’s drawing attention, and he can hear Eddie’s voice in his mind ‘don’t make a scene, Aleks’, but he doesn’t fucking care.

“Fuck off!” James is riled up now, “I didn’t do shit to you!”

“Oh please, you haven’t fucking let me breathe since I got here!”

“You know what!” James spits, “You probably deserve this rumour, you stuck-up, ignorant -”

Aleks dresses like your stereotypical sweater-vest nerd.

A lot of people get the impression that he’s smart because of this, and they’re right. But there’s one thing that Aleks’s appearance doesn’t say.

He can fight.

So he knows _exactly_ what he’s doing when he pulls his hand back into a fist, and swings a right hook. His knuckles slam into James’s cheekbone, cutting off his harsh words. Aleks’s fingers ache with the impact against bone, and James’s head whips to the side. The whole cafeteria goes quiet, and Aleks turns on his heel, stalking out.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aleks may be fiesty, but James doesn't hold grudges like most. He kind of deserved that. Kind of.

The day goes on, and Aleks doesn’t hear anything from James or Seamus, but he still hears the whispers from around him, and bites back the urge to say something in return. Their ‘whispering’, however, is just talking very audibly in a raspy voice, and Aleks wonders if they do it on purpose, or if they’re just that dumb.

Since no teachers witnessed the ordeal, and seemingly none of them were notified about it, Aleks makes it through the day without getting sent to the staffroom, without getting pulled out of class, and without getting in trouble at all.

He sends a text to Eddie during English, his phone tucked sneakily inside of his pencil-case.

_“So it’s my third day, and I’ve already punched Asshole in the face…”_

His phone vibrates almost seconds afterwards, and he can just imagine Eddie’s shocked, disappointed, and slightly impressed face.

_“What the fuck? O.O”_

_“He had it coming. I’ll explain when I get home, I promise.”_

_“Better. I can’t believe you sometimes Aleks, holy shit.”_

Aleks smiles wryly, and pockets his phone. He glances up at the whiteboard, squints at the sudden amount of writing that wasn’t there about fourteen seconds ago, swears inaudibly about Greek history, and takes down the notes on the board.

He watches the clock tick, and waits for it to read three o’clock. He can’t _wait_ to get on the bus, and out of this godforsaken hell hole. People are still whispering around him, and two guys keep glancing from him, to each other, before speaking again. They don’t exactly look like the friendliest people, and they wear matching scowls whenever they stare. Aleks just wants to shout at them to ‘take a fucking picture’, but he doubts that would do him any favours, besides getting him a detention, and sent out of class.

The bell _finally_ rings, and Aleks is out of his seat and headed towards his locker before the teacher can even dismiss him.

He’s just finished up on packing up his things when he realizes he’s running later than he should be, and everyone else has disappeared. The bus will probably leave in a couple minutes, with or without him.

He walks quickly, and makes his way out of the halls, out of the doors, and outside, breathing a sigh of relief when he sees the bus is still there.

Somebody calls his name from nearby.

It’s the two guys from his class. One motions for him to come over and Aleks rolls his eyes. Like shit he’s gonna go near them. He’s running late anyway, doesn’t need this shit right now.

“Fuckin’ cocksucker,” one of them calls, “Don’t be such a fuckin’ pussy!”

Aleks holds his middle finger high over his shoulder, so they can see it. He’s only taken a few steps, when there’s a harsh strike to the back of his head. His balance fails, and he drops to the ground, blacking out when his head collides with the concrete below.

He’s only out for a few seconds, and he comes to when he’s being dragged off of the ground, his arms being pulled tight behind his back.

“Get the fuck off of me!”

He swings his legs back, his heels slamming into the guys shin, and the guy grunts in pain. Aleks doesn’t have enough time to think of a plan, when suddenly the air rushes out of his lungs. A sharp pain spreads through his abdomen, and he realizes he’s been hit. And hit again.

The second guy is laying into him, turning Aleks into his own personal punching bag.

His nose makes an audible crunching noise, and Aleks can’t help the shout of pain the falls from his lips. He’s pretty sure that’s broken. His lip feels split as well, and he can taste the blood in his mouth.

Not that much time has passed, he’s sure of it, but it feels like it’s been _hours_ , and all he can wonder is _‘when will it end?’_

There’s a shout, a pause in the hits, and Aleks opens his eyes just in time to witness his attacker getting pulled off of him, and pushed to the side.

Somebody pulled him off.

Aleks takes in the facial features.

 _James_ pulled him off.

Aleks is being pulled out of the other guys grip, and James swings a hit to the guy holding him, his taped hand slamming into the jaw of the guy. He winces in pain, but he quickly grips Aleks’s, and pulls him along.

“C’mon, move!”

They duck behind a wall, and then behind dumpster, and the smell is fairly awful, but Aleks is just relieved not to be getting the absolute shit beaten out of him anymore. There’s a moment of silence, a moment of catching breath, and then James speaks quietly as he crouches on the ground.

“I’m sorry I said those things to you.” He points to the bruise forming on the side of his face, “You’ve got a good hit on you!”

He laughs quietly, and awkwardly, but Aleks stays quiet. James clears his throat, and shifts from side to side, continuing to speak.

“I probably shouldn’t hit that guy with my bad hand. Hurts like a bitch.”

“Why did you then, dickhead?” Aleks murmurs back, and James grins at getting a sentence out of him.

“I’m a better shot with that one.”

Aleks snorts, but he quietens down when voices approach. A few minutes pass, and so do the voices, but they still don’t move.

“James?”

“Huh?”

“Why’d you stick up for me?” Aleks frowns, ignoring the pain as he does so, “I told you to fuck off multiple times, I broke your fingers in my locker, and I punched you in front of everybody. You could’ve just let me get beat.”

James brow furrows, and he sighs.

“I’ve been pushing you. I pissed you off. I’m an annoying person, but it’s what I do. A lot of the things I say, I don’t mean. It’s fair enough what you did to me. Except for the finger breaking part, that was completely unnecessary.” James laughs, and Aleks shakes his head in embarrassment.

“Besides,” he adds on, “What kind of person would I be if I let you get beat half to death?”

Aleks doesn’t answer. He doesn’t really think he has to. James listens for voices, before he glances over the top of the dumpster, and then moves to stand up, offering a hand to Aleks.

“They’re gone. C’mon. Let’s get you cleaned up.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> james is a nuisance and will call aleks gorgeous even if he is covered in bruises

It hurts to move.

Aleks’s body is covered in a stretch of galaxies, mottled clouds of purples and blues, with clean patches of skin left shining like stars in the night.

He’s been standing in his bedroom since Eddie left for work on that cold, frosty Friday morning, with his shirt on the floor, and his skin raised in tiny bumps as the cold air caresses his skin.

In front of the floor length mirror, his body twists this way and that, and he watches as with each different angle, another mark appears on his body, across his abdomen and back, and his cheekbones and nose. Parts of his face have swollen, leaving his face awkwardly plump in some areas.

He’s glad that Eddie gave in, giving him a day off from the high-school. He doesn’t want those assholes to see what they can be capable of.

And he doesn’t want anyone else to get ideas anyway.

The door rattles suddenly, someone trying the locked handle, and then banging on it impatiently. Aleks’s heartbeat spikes, fear pulsing through his veins, and he hopes that those guys didn’t find his home address.

People had done it before.

There’s a pause in the rattling, and Aleks stares at the door like a deer caught in headlights, until a familiar voice cuts through the silence, muffled by the wood of the door.

“Hey, Gorgeous, you in here?”

A sigh of relief passes his lips, and his breathing begins to slow, circulating normally.

“Door’s unlocked,” He shouted back, “I’ll be out in a second.”

But of course, James Wilson took that as a sign to enter, and the door swung open, cracking against the wall with a bang.

Aleks rolled his eyes, and tried to ignore that heat that flushed his face as James gave him a long and deliberate once-over, dragging his gaze from his head to his toes and back again.

A cheeky smirk formed on his shell pink lips, along with a comment ready to fly as he appraised Aleks’s bare torso.

But as Aleks turned to face him, the light and angle of his body changing, the smart comment that James had planned disappeared as he watched the dark hues appear across Aleks’s abdomen and face.

He swallowed, a myriad of emotions flickering across his face, from shock to rage, from rage to shock, and from rage to guilt.

“Shit,” He cursed quietly, staring at the floor, “I’m so fucking sorry, I should have got there sooner.”

Aleks gives a shrug, ignoring the dull tug in his shoulders, and gathers up the graphic t-shirt discarded on the ground.

“Not your problem,” He says, his voice muffled as he pulls the shirt over his head, “You didn’t tell them to hit me.”

James agrees with that, and he glances around the room a moment, before his eyes come to rest on the quick sliver of skin that he sees on Aleks’s arm before he pulls his sweater sleeves over it.

“You’ve got ink,” he points out, “I’ve never noticed.”

“I wear long sleeves for a reason.”

Aleks’s answer is deadpan, immediately dropping the topic. James clears his throat, and Aleks folds his arms across his chest.

“Why are you here, James?”

“Oh! Uh, well,” He scratches the back of his head awkwardly, “Seamus said that you’d tutor me. So… Yeah. Here I am!”

There’s a pause, and Aleks stares at him and shakes his head.

“It’s a school day, James. Kind of defeats the purpose if you’re going to wag school to come here.”

James shrugs, an easy and confident roll of his shoulders.

“Yeah, but, you’re hot, so-”

He’s cut off by a pillow smacking him in the face.

Hard.

—-

“So x equals… thirty-seven-point-six-eight?”

“Round up. They only want it to one decimal place.”

“But that’s not accurate,” James grumbles, chewing on the tip of his pencil, “Makes no sense.”

“But it’s what they want.”

“Fuck them.”

Aleks sighs and glances up from the book.

“Is this why you never get anything done? Because of your little “I’m-always-right” mentality?”

“But I am always right, Aleksandr.”

The way his name rolls off of James’s tongue does something to the nerves that branch throughout Aleks’s body, electrifying his skin with something akin to a dull hum of an electrified fence.

He swallows, and flicks the page as he shakes his head.

“Your report card likely says otherwise.”

“It says I have potential, but I fail to use it.”

Aleks raises an eyebrow but it falls as the thoughts in his head line up.

“That’s true.” He murmurs, tracing his finger underneath key words.

“Huh?” James looks up from the textbook, and tilts his head to the side, “You think I’ve got potential?”

“You’re smart, James, there’s no doubting that,” Aleks shrugs, the pain in his shoulders almost unbearable, but he ignores it, “You just don’t want to do things that you don’t agree with.”

There’s a long pause and James watches Aleks for a moment, his face pink from the compliment. Aleks stares back, and tries to ignore it when James’s gaze lowers to his mouth, just for a second.

“I agree with you,” James blurts out suddenly, “So can I do you?”

There’s another pause as Aleks feels his face turn five different shades of red, and then a bubble of anger builds up inside of him.

“Do you want me to hit you again?”

—-

The sun has started to set when Seamus shows up, pulling into the driveway to pick up James. It casts an orange glow in through the windows, and Aleks leads James to the door, handing him the textbook in his hands.

“You should come by again soon,” Aleks tells him, hoping he won’t take that too literally, “I think we can make this work.”

James smiles and he digs out his wallet, chewing his lip as he passes some money to Aleks.

Aleks thumbs it quickly, and he hesitates.

“I can’t take this. It wouldn’t be right of me.”

“No,” James urges him, closing his hand over Aleks’s, “Take it. You deserve after dealing with me.”

They stand together for a moment, and Aleks hates himself when his cheeks heat up. Outside, Seamus leans on the car horn, and James laughs.

“Time for me to go, Gorgeous.”

“Get out.” Aleks deadpans, and James laughs again.

But just before he leaves, with his taped fingers on the doorframe, he turns back quickly.

“You should really try icing some of your bumps. It uh, might help with the swelling.”

Aleks pauses, hearing the sincerity in James’s voice, the concern and worry.

“Maybe I’ll do that.”

“Whatever,” James swallows, returning to his bad boy demeanour, “I’ll see you around, Gorgeous.”

And as the door clicks shut, Aleks buries his face in his hands.

No.

He knows what kind of a person James is. He can’t fall for him.

He refuses to go through that pain again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> university is hard and i'm having a lot of life troubles but i love you all and your comments make my days

**Author's Note:**

> this has been posted from my tumblr notebookofwishes in an attempt to actually make myself write more  
> i'll post the rest up later, i have 12 already written, and who knows how many more to come!  
> there may be smut later, i'm not sure, but stick around please!! x


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